Racism vs Blk Ppl (February 2021)

For all of the "why does everything have to be about race" people. You've had the luxury of looking to the media to determine the extent of racism which makes you think that every conversation and occurrence regarding race relations from the George Floyd situation until now is just race baiting. There are some people who race bait but that doesn't change the fact that racism against minorities, primarily black people, is a huge issue. Segregation ended a long time ago but the effects of that, slavery to be more specific, are still prevalent. The Jim Crow era produced a significant amount of inequality for African Americans. The white power structure has made it much harder for us to succeed in economic situations such as quality of living, education, jobs and finances in general. The criminal justice system has been heavily favored against us (ex: the war on drugs). Most of black on black crime, which we need to spend more time talking about, is a result of turning on each other to overcome white supremacy and thus make at least a decent living. We didn't create the bloods, crips, etc for clout. Most of us who join gangs do it for survival to hopefully get out of the hood but it's extremely hard to be in an impoverished community filled with drugs/guns and see better days. As a result of all of this, we have gotten the less educated, more threatening stereotype which is the reason why we experience racial prejudice, whether it's from cops or people in general, far more than any group. Our racial issues go far beyond the "karen" videos, which are a lot more serious than they may seem. So when extreme events happen like the ones including Rodney King, Eric Garner, George Floyd, etc; these situations give us a much bigger platform than usual to speak on racial inequality as a whole. All of this isn't to say that every black person is poor and every white person is rich. Nor am I saying that African Americans don't play a role in some of our problems (ex: single black moms) or that all white people are racist and none of us can be. The point is that there's nothing wrong with consistently celebrating achievements in the black community because of our history.

My family's experience with racism: I'm not only black but I'm also Nigerian (and it shows in me and my brothers' names: Ohonsi, Esosa, and Ehije Osojie). So growing up, we dealt with a lot of racist taunting because of our skin color and names. Though we still had tremendous childhoods and the racism didn't bother me as much it should have because of all the other social problems I dealt with, nobody should be subjected to that. (I'm pretty sure it didn't bother my brothers that much either for whatever reason). My mom has overcome her share of racial issues while working her way up in the medical field ever since she came from Nigeria all by herself as a young woman with a very limited understanding of American ways.